So Much to Prove
by jina fate
Summary: Hector figures out that he's in love with Florina. Opposites attract? Maybe not, 'cause he can't seem to be able to talk to her without insulting her or her Pegasus, and having her run away. Will the lovestruck lord ever catch her eye? REVIEW! PLEASE!
1. Chapter 1

_**So Much to Prove**_

_Jina: _Hey everybody! Guess what: I'm doing another story! Yay me! Only thing is, I'm kind of worried that it won't be as good as my last one seems to be. I just hope I'll get as good reviews for this story as I did for my other one, When Wishes Come True. (p.s. check that one out to if you haven't already! And for those of you who already have, two things: 1- thanks again! And 2- im still working on that one, just lacking inspiration). Oh well. Anyways, I hope this one is just as good! crosses fingers I've gotten tired of muses, so I won't have this story (I can just see you all now: thank god, what a relief). Anyways, (there I go again with the 'anyways'! I say that a lot…), here's the story!

"Stay back, Florina. I'll take care of that coming bandit. You need to be careful," said the calm voice of a teal-haired Pegasus Knight, the former commander of a whole squad of Ilian mercenaries such as herself and the other young Pegasus Knight she was speaking to. The young girl it was directed to merely sighed, and said, "Yes, Fiora. I'll…go report to Thom, I guess."

Walking her Pegasus a few steps away and leaping lightly onto its back, the girl and the Pegasus became airborne, soaring through the cloudy skies with ease. The rider blew her lilac-colored hair out of her eyes as they flew, and then smiled for what felt like the first time in days. She didn't get to fly much outside of battle anymore, and it was a relief not having to constantly swoop down and kill enemies. The small group of mercenaries she and Fiora (with whom she had been speaking earlier) belonged to called themselves as "Hector's Horde" (although outsiders generally called them, "That crazy bunch of suicidal mercenaries"), had been fighting almost non-stop lately. Just like they had been even as far back as when Florina was by herself in "Lyn's Legion", and they had been trying to save Lady Lyndis' uncle Marquess Hausen of Caelin. Lady Lyndis, along with Florina herself, and a few other people from the Legion, were all together again; but with many new people, including Lord Eliwood of Pherae and his companions, and Lord Hector of Ostia and his. They had been traveling and fighting and over-working themselves for several months now, working hard so that they might achieve their goal of defeating Nergal, a crazy and evil man who had killed many innocent people, and was bringing destruction to their land of Elibe.

Florina was becoming quite weary of it all, the fighting, the killing, the traveling. But she couldn't stop now; she still had so much to prove. She had to prove to everyone that she was not a weak and defenseless little girl who depended on the others for protection. They never really noticed, she was sure, but Florina was actually quite a skilled lance-user, and was dependable in battle. But Lyndis, and Fiora, and all the rest of them only saw her as little quiet Florina, the timid girl who was terrified of men and needed to be protected. She had to prove them wrong.

Sailing through the air, Florina didn't let her deep thoughts endanger her or Huey, her Pegasus. She kept a sharp eye out for enemies, especially archers. Archers were deadly to Pegasi and their riders, so all archers, even the ones who were her allies, frightened her. Florina wouldn't dare let anything happen to Huey, he was her best friend. He never tried to shove her behind him and keep her safe when she didn't want to be. He was also one of the few males she felt comfortable around.

Finally sighting the tactician Thom, she urged Huey into a downward spiral, touching down to the earth gracefully a few feet away from Thom and the people he was speaking to, Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood.

"Thom, F-Fiora sent me to report on the situation from her where she is p-posted in the mountains." Florina said as clearly as she could as she trotted up to them, fighting the instinct to run, or at least to stutter, not completely succeeding. Stupid nervousness! Stupid fear! She thought angrily.

"Okay. Hector, Eliwood, I'll talk to you two later. Get ready for another battle, since by the look on Florina's face, the number of enemies isn't pretty."

"Very well. We'll continue our discussion later, Sir Thom." Eliwood agreed, and walked away to his tent to prepare. Hector instead moved closer to Thom, standing right next to Florina. Terrified, she fought the urge to flee and stood as calmly as she could, though she twitched a few times.

"I'll stay to hear what Florina has to say; that way, we'll all know how to best get ready. I can help spread the word to the troops." Hector said by way of explanation.

"Good idea, Lord Hector." Thom said, grinning at him. However, when he turned to face Florina, his grin faded to be replaced by a much more subdued and solemn expression. "Well, Florina? How bad is it?"

"N-not that bad, Lord Thom," Florina said, mentally cursing herself for stuttering, "There's at l-least sixty of them, with possible r-reinforcements coming. The b-bandits are all m-mainly axe-users, but they have s-several archers as well." Florina told him, staring resolutely at her feet. She didn't dare look at Hector for fear of blushing, and Thom would see this and set her up with Hector like he had done with many other couples in the small army, like Fiora with Kent, and Lyn and Rath.

"Sixty? That isn't too bad…" Thom muttered to himself. "Alright, thank you Florina, you've been a huge help. I'll set up a battle plan right away. Go tell Fiora to come back and get ready for battle."

"Yes, Sir Thom. Right away." Florina said, and then ran back to where Huey awaited her, and was just getting ready to get on him when she heard someone call her name.

"Florina! Lady Florina!" called a familiar male voice. It was Lord Hector. He was trotting up to her, grinning in a friendly way. "Good, I caught you before you took off." He said as he caught up to her and stood next to her and Huey.

"D-did you need something, L-lord Hector?" Florina stuttered anxiously. He always made her so nervous; he was so large and strong. All men frightened her a bit, but that went all the way back to her childhood, when her father… She didn't want to think of that now. She shook her head to clear her thoughts of that vile man, and Lord Hector looked at her strangely. "No what? I didn't say anything yet." He asked, puzzled.

Florina blushed furiously; red enough, she was sure, to be the envy of all tomatoes. "No, Lord Hector, I wasn't saying that to you, I was, well, clearing my thoughts." She explained. She was so embarrassed; she didn't worry about what she was saying, so she didn't stutter.

"Oh. What kind of thoughts?" Hector inquired. Florina froze up. She couldn't tell this man about her horrid childhood in Ilia! It was too personal, and Farina and Fiora would be angry at her for gossiping about their past.

"Uh, nothing, really… I was just, thinking about, um, the battle. Yes! The battle; I'm worried about my sister, I don't know if she has an axe-reaver, so she might have to use regular lances, which are weak against axes." Florina hurriedly said by way of an excuse. Lord Hector looked disbelieving, so she quickly tried to change the subject. "So, Lord Hector, what did you wish to tell me?"

"Huh?" he asked.

"You called to me to wait before I left to get Fiora. I assumed you needed to tell me something." Florina said, her voice getting quieter and quieter towards the end of the sentence, until she noticed that Hector was leaning in towards her as though he couldn't quite hear what she was saying. While looking down at her feet, which she was staring earnestly at, she saw two much larger feet step closer to her own. A gentle but firm hand tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"Lady Florina, why do you always look at your feet when we speak? Am I that dreadful to look at?" he asked in a pretend gruff voice, teasing her.

Florina blushed, a shade or two redder than your average tomato, and immediately began to apologize, looking more flustered than ever. "N-no! Of course not, Lord H-hector! I could n-never think that!"

"Easy, there, Florina, I was only teasing. Relax." Hector said, trying not to laugh at the look on the small girl's face.

"O-oh, yes, right. Of course," Florina said, looking somewhat less anxious, but still blushing; though less violently. "So why'd you wish to speak to me?"

"I just thought you looked like you could use someone to talk to besides your sisters for once. Is that a crime or something? I know Lyndis thinks it is." Hector asked, looking slightly disgruntled. Florina herself scowled, fear of men completely forgotten as she thought about the over-protectiveness of her friends and sisters.

"No, it's not. I can take care of myself just fine." Florina said angrily, not realizing that her voice had risen in volume by a lot.

"Alright, alright; Jeez, I was joking. I know they're just worried about you."

"They don't need to be! I'm fine by myself! I don't need them, or anybody!" Florina snapped. Then realizing who she was talking to, her faced paled to an alarming shade of white, in horror at snapping at a lord. She began to stutter again. "Oh! I'm s-sorry, Lord H-hector! I b-beg your pardon! I d-didn't mean t-to snap at y-you! S-sorry!" and with that final stuttered and nearly unintelligible statement, she leapt onto Huey and took off.

"Florina! Wait! Lady Florina, I… Oh, never mind. Drat…I was finally actually talking to her for once, and she wasn't running away in fright or stuttering that much. Blast." Hector said to himself, watching as the little dot that was Florina and her stupid flying beast disappeared into the mountains.

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"Florina, do you have a vulnerary?" Fiora asked after Florina had fetched her and they had headed to their tent to pack up and get ready for the oncoming battle.

"Yes, Fiora, and I have my lance and javelin as well. Please, sister, don't worry about me so much…" Florina said softly, and Fiora looked up at her with a sheepish smile

"I know you can take care of yourself better now. You have gotten much stronger than you were before, I can see that." Florina glowed at the praise. It was true. She _had _become much stronger. Her fear had even lessened a bit, though not totally.

"Still, I'm your older sister. Worrying is in the job description. You know how I take my jobs seriously." Fiora added.

"I know," Florina replied, finishing rolling up her bed-roll. Standing, she said, "Can you handle packing up the tent? I'll go prepare our Pegasi. Deal?"

"That's fine. See you in a bit."

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"Oh, Huey. She says she knows I've grown up, and that I am stronger, but…does she really? I doubt it. She's been a mother to me since...well, for a long time. I don't think she'll give it up now." Florina told Huey in a quiet voice as she readied him for battle, putting on his saddle and bridle and giving him an extra carrot.

"Hmm, why are you talking to that horse? You know it can't talk back, right?" said a deep voice behind her. Florina jumped at least half a foot into the air, whipping around with her hand coming up to rest over her heart, startled eyes wide.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Hector said, in what she supposed was meant to be a soothing tone of voice. It didn't quite make it.

"It is n-not your f-fault, Lord Hector. I should have b-been more aware of my surroundings. Yes," Florina added, "I do know Huey can't talk back. But he's not a horse."

"You're right. It's a dumb horse with wings."

"He's not dumb!" Florina could take many insults directed at her, but insult Huey…

"He's a beast! He isn't intelligent!"

"Neither are you, apparently, Lord Hector!" Florina hissed, her anger making her usually gentle blue eyes snap with fury. She hated when people insulted her Pegasus, or hurt him. Only once had she been anywhere near this angry, in Ilia when she had caught some local village boys throwing rocks at Huey. She had been furious.

His eyes widened and looked angry for half a second, and then the anger faded to turn into an emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on. Florina didn't understand. Hector beat up other people for less than she had just said to him, such as looking at him the wrong way and the like, yet he now found her…what? Interesting, maybe? Florina had thought he'd be angry for sure. Angry like her father, maybe even…

Noticing the Pegasus Knight's bewildered stare, Hector shook himself out of his sudden trance-like state. Wow, was he acting strange. Why? Why now, when he was talking to one of the few girls he actually cared about? At least he could hear her when she yelled at him.

"I really do prefer you like this," he said, a bit randomly, in a ponderous tone of voice rarely heard from him. Florina blinked a few times, startled by the sudden change in subject. Not only was he not mad, but he liked it? "What?"

"You're much easier to understand when you're angry. Your voice actually reaches a volume normal people can hear, and you don't stutter." Hector explained, and then he grimaced as Florina's expression fell.

"That's-not-exactly how I meant that. That was supposed to be a compliment. Perhaps Eliwood is right, and I am an ill-mannered oaf. I'm…sorry," he concluded stiffly, as though the words "I'm" and "sorry" didn't generally stand next to each other in any sentences of his. More often it was something like 'I'm gonna make you sorry,' or 'you'll be sorry for making me mad'.

"It's alright, m-milord. No offense taken. I'm sorry I yelled and called you unintelligent. That was v-very out of line and uncalled for. Please accept m-my apologies," Florina replied hurriedly, wincing as the stutter came back. She decided the moment when it would be advisable to flee was right then, and pulling Huey and Fiora's Pegasus behind her, she ran off.

"Lady Florina! Wait! I didn't mean… Blast, why am I always left calling after her, wondering why the heck everything that comes out of my mouth is gruff, insulting, and rude?" Hector grumbled. Why, every time he tried to have a conversation with the pretty Pegasus knight who had somehow caught his eye in a way no other woman had, did his attempts always end with him insulting her and running off?

'It's her fault she's too blasted sensitive about that blasted beast!' he thought angrily, then sighed. No, it wasn't her fault.

Eliwood had once told him what Fiora had once said, how a Pegasus Knight was always emotionally attached to her steed, that that bond was what made them such a threat on the battlefield, because they were two lethal enemies acting perfectly as one. They had little need of vocal communication, and flew almost silently, so they made terrific ambushers. Plus, they had a larger range of movement than almost any other fighter. Pretty much the only difficulties with training and using them in battle were getting them strengthened up and keeping them safe from archers.

So Hector understood why Florina and her winged beast were close. They needed to be, to be an effective unit in battle. He had to admit the truth to himself, though.

Hector was incredibly, insanely jealous of that stupid winged beast. Why, oh why, was he so envious, do you ask?

It was because Florina talked to it and spent time with it and cared for it and…loved it. And for reasons he really didn't know much about, Hector would give almost anything to have her treat him like that.

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End of Chapter One

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_Author's Note: _Hey everyone. I need some feedback! Muy pronto! (which means very soon for those of you don't speak Spanish). I need to tell me if you like the story so far, any ideas you might have for the coming chapters (though I've already got chapter two almost complete), and if you have any suggestions for anything else I didn't mention. Please please please please be nice to me and review! I will go mad with depression if you don't! Just kidding. I will be pretty upset though. So please review?

Until next time, dear readers!


	2. Chapter 2

_**So Much to Prove: Chapter Two**_

"Uuuggghhh…" someone moaned loudly, in deep pain; it was coming from somewhere in the woods she decided. A pretty violent oath followed it, and the voice sounded familiar…

'Who was that?' she wondered, and pulling her lance free of the bandits corpse she had guided Huey over in the direction she had heard the voice come from. Normally she would have ignored it, but this voice was very familiar, and it worried her. Nervously, she ventured over into the hills where the pained shout came from. "Hello? I-is someone th-there?" she called anxiously into the chilly dusk air.

"Uurrrrggghhh…." Someone moaned again, close by now, and quivering a little, Florina told herself to be brave and see what it was. It could be an ally, on the verge of death. Or…Florina tried to not think of it, and failed…it could be an enemy, ambushing the vulnerably kind-hearted, such as her. Creeping past a bunch of bodies she hoped were enemies, she at last tiptoed into a clearing, following a trail of what seemed to be marks of someone half dragging their self farther from the bodies, she spotted a huge bulky mass that she assumed was a person in the middle of it. Peering intently at the armor, Florina had at last recognized the Ostian crest on the armor, and barely made out the dark blue hair.

"Lord Hector? Are y-you okay?" Florina whispered, her fear making it hard to speak, but her kind heart ordering her to. She tiptoed to his side, nervous and frightened as always, but her mother and older sisters had taught her to never let fear stand in the way of helping someone in need. She couldn't let Hector possible die because she was afraid! What would everyone say? 'Oh, Ostia lost its last heir to the throne, should anything happen to Lord Uther, because his battle companions abandoned him to die'.

"Ugh….arg….who is it? If you're no friend of mine, you'd better start running." Hector mumbled foggily. Even in pain and wounded, he was throwing around threats.

"Its m-me, my lord, Florina; I heard you moaning and I c-came over to make sure you weren't…d-dying. What happened?" Florina asked him softly, considering in her head whether or not she should try and roll him to a more comfortable position than twisted on his side like that. It had been hard to say 'dying'. She didn't want to think about Hector being dead. She decided to ignore why she felt that way for now.

Hector attempted to roll over by himself, but immediately bit back an oath in pain, clutching his side. There was a large jagged hole in it, and she could see a dark liquid shining in the moonlight. Florina, gulping and growing very frightened for him; and, though she would only admit it to herself, still frightened of him; helped him roll over gently.

"Thanks," the usually proud Lord Hector muttered. He was probably in too much pain to care about pride at the moment, though she could tell being polite was a trial for him. It was a rare occurrence at the best of times, much less when he was injured.

Hector looked up into her worried face, and privately thought that her being concerned for him was far better than her being afraid of him. If getting like this hadn't hurt so blasted much, he would do it more often.

"Are y-you uninjured enough to walk? If we can, we should d-definitely head back to the others as soon as possible" whispered Florina. Inside, she was quite proud of herself. She was actually holding something of a conversation with a male! And she wasn't stuttering as much. Little by little, she was getting used to Lord Hector, in an odd way. Or, perhaps it was just because he was injured, and he couldn't hurt her while he was so severely in pain, now could he? He couldn't hurt her…

"I don't think I can go anywhere, but you go ahead. Get Thom and Serra and bring them back to me, I'll just wait here." He didn't like the thought of being so susceptible to attack, but he didn't want to keep her here if she didn't want to be. He could see quite clearly, though she was managing to control her usual terror, that staying so near to him was taxing her nerves. On the surface, she appeared concerned and anxious, but past that he could see her fighting to remain calm.

"I couldn't do t-that!" Florina gasped. "You would be alone, v-vulnerable to any attacks from enemy bandits who could still be in these woods. I can't-won't leave you alone and d-defenseless." It was odd to think of Hector ever being defenseless.

"What do you propose we do, then?" Hector asked, though he saw only one other option. He knew she probably saw it too, which would explain why she looked even more nervous, if that was at all possible. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure her hands weren't shaking solely because the night was growing colder; although it was getting very cold out, now that the sun had gone down.

"Well, I suppose we just have to s-set up camp here, and wait for m-morning to come. By then the others will come looking for us, I'm sure. They can't now 'cause it's too dark, but once the sun r-rises we can get help."

"Okay, I think that'll work. I don't have any vulneraries or elixirs, though. Can you help me wash off the blood and get it bandaged?" Hector asked wearily.

"O-of course…oh, I have a vulnerary! That will help a little, I t-think. I'll go get it from Huey's saddle bags," Florina told him, and she sprinted off with an audible sigh of relief to her grazing Pegasus before he could reply.

She didn't really know why it was so much easier to talk to him when he was injured. Probably because hurt people always brought out her desire to protect and care for others, which had been part of the reason she had become a Pegasus Knight.

He was lost in thought about how heavenly she looked, like his guardian angel, come to rescue him. Were those her Pegasus' wings, or her own…? Mental forehead slap: what was he thinking? He vaguely acknowledged, in the recesses of his fuzzy mind, that he was somewhat, scratch that, very delirious from blood loss. He had to sit up, so he wouldn't frighten the lovely Florina any more. No! He mentally kicked himself. He couldn't think like that! Sure, she was pretty, but nothing good would come from him thinking it!

She came back and handed the vulnerary to him, then began to walk away.

"I b-better light a fire. Stay h-here," she told him, then felt stupid. Like he could go anywhere in his state! Anyways, she should have lit a fire right away. What was she thinking? He would probably die of pneumonia instead of his wound now!

"And that's why I'm no cleric," she muttered darkly to herself.

"What was that?" Hector asked.

"N-nothing, just…nothing," she squeaked, embarrassed.

He thought she had said something about not being a cleric, but he wasn't sure. He had no clue why she'd say that, she was helping him just fine.

After she had gathered the tinder and the wood, she struck a piece of flint a couple times so the kindling would catch; quickly, the logs caught and she had a nice fire going, though the wind was blowing the heat of the flames all one way, and the shadows created by the fire all looked like scary bandits about to attack. She watched to make sure the fire would stay lit, with all the wind, and decided it would. After a moment, she turned back around to assess Hector's wound in better lighting.

It was pretty severe. She didn't think any major organs had been hit, but there had been quite a bit of blood loss. Not too much, not a fatal amount, she prayed.

When Florina came slowly back to his side, (she was attempting to settle her nerves more, because she was still so jittery from anxiety and, of course, fear), Hector was attempting to sit up. She knew this was a bad idea, and that he'd probably make his wound even worse. She hurried to his side and gently pushed him back down. He hadn't gotten far anyway.

"Lord Hector, r-relax. Don't push yourself. Rest for now, I'll take care of everything." Florina scolded weakly. Realizing her hand was still on his shoulder, she whipped it off like she had set it on a hot oven.

"But, you're gonna need my armor out of the way." Florina blushed at the thought of taking off his armor, but thankfully it was too dark for him to see, she hoped.

Hector saw her blush, and admired how cute she looked when she did. Stop! He mentally smacked himself again. Be good! He told his fuzzy mind. Wow, he really was a bit loopy…

"Um, right… Okay, I'll u-unbuckle it, and then you'll probably have to help me l-lift it off of you a bit. It looks pretty heavy." She muttered.

"It is. Just unbuckle here…and here….and here…" and with Hector's assistance (and a bit of hissed cussing), they managed to pull off the armor. Florina couldn't believe how different he looked; more…human, gentler; less frightening, by quite a bit. His armor made him look very intimidating, but now she could see that he wasn't some brutal killing machine, but a person.

"What are you thinking?" he asked suddenly, as she was pouring some of the vulnerary onto his wound. Her eyes were vaguely unfocused. He could tell she was still a bit afraid,

"How much more approachable you look with you armor off," Florina whispered absentmindedly. Then she gasped in shock and winced as she realized that she had actually said that out loud. She looked at his face carefully. His expression was thoughtful, though there was a small trace of humor as well.

"Really?" he wondered. He mentally noted to take his armor off before speaking to her more often.

"Um, y-yes… Ahem, well, a-anyway, your wound is healing p-pretty well. This is my last vulnerary, so that will have to work I g-guess. I'm so sorry I can't do more…Forgive me for not being better prepared" Florina told him. He shook his head.

"No, no; you did the best you could in these circumstances. I can see now that if you're in the middle of a crisis, you don't panic, you help others. You're a lot tougher than most people think, Florina. To stay and help me when I needed it, despite your fear, was very brave," He replied, looking her straight in the eyes. There were advantages to being lying down with her kneeling at his side. When she looked down at the ground as she always did when embarrassed, his face was right there. He belatedly thought that he probably shouldn't have mentioned her fear, but it was too late now. Perhaps Eliwood was right, and he truly did need to think more before he spoke. She didn't seem to notice that part though.

They looked straight into each others eyes for a very brief moment, and then Florina blushed, and throwing another one of her many, barely audible, mumbled excuses at him, she ran off. Something about water, or someone named Huey…

Hector didn't care. He needed a moment to let his pain out without frightening her. He also wanted to think a little. He had seen a side of Florina he had only heard about before. He also had to think about what he felt. He just didn't understand it. He had an inkling of what it was, though. His brother Uther had once tried to explain this to him, when he was talking to Hector about a girl he thought he might have a fancy for.

He was guessing, he knew. He, like most men, knew little of such matters, and he knew even less than them. But he did think he knew one thing: that the mighty lord Hector had taken a fancy to someone, a feeling that most people who knew of him, especially back home, didn't believe he could ever possibly feel. But, after a few weeks of getting to know her through reports from Matthew (for once, the spy did something useful) and overhearing Fiora talk to Kent about her, and watching her fly… He had at last discovered that the strange feeling he had for her was something more than friendship, like with Eliwood. If it wasn't that, it must be love, mustn't it? Even if it wasn't, he didn't care. If it was some other emotion, he didn't mind. All he knew was that he liked it… a lot. Did it matter what it was, if it brought him happiness?

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"Thom, where is Florina?!? She's been missing for hours, why can't we find her?!?" Fiora spat at the cowering tactician. Lyn put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, Fiora. You know, as much as I'd like to think that Florina still needs my protection, I'm beginning to realize that she might not anymore. You've seen her actually talking to some of the men. Even Hector, and if he isn't the scariest of them all besides Sain, I don't know who would be. I…think that she'll be okay, if she's not captured. And why would they take her hostage?" Lyn reasoned, "I hate to say it, and you know I love her like a sister, but she's just a Pegasus Knight. If me, or Eliwood, or Hector, were missing, it might be kidnap. But, my guess is, she's lost in the woods, or either she or Huey is injured," Lyn tried to console Florina's upset older sister.

"Oh, why didn't I look out for her better? Who knows what's happened to her? I'm a terrible big sister, I'm supposed to look out for her, not let her get lost!" Fiora whispered. Thom patted her on the shoulder gently.

Thom and Lyn, and Eliwood and Kent who were also in the tactician's tent, were a little unnerved to see Fiora this flustered. Usually, the teal-haired Pegasus Knight was pretty unshakable. But, everyone knew that the Pegasus Sisters had something that happened in their past that made each of them who they were. Fiora had become overprotective and a tiny bit of a control freak, and Florina had become afraid of the entire male gender.

"Lyndis, Hector _is _missing, don't forget. Perhaps she was with him, and someone attempted to take him hostage, and she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Eliwood put in calmly.

"Now, listen to me," Thom said firmly. Everyone in the tent looked at him, surprised at his tone. "I think that one of them got hurt in the battle, and the other stayed with them to defend them from any lingering bandits. They both have plenty of common sense, so that is what they'd probably do. We had to retreat very rapidly at the end because we had plenty of other injured people as well, and we didn't know if enemy reinforcements were coming. It's plausible that in the mad rush to get back to camp before we lost anyone, Hector and Florina could have gotten left near the battlefield. I'm usually better at making sure everyone is here, and I apologize. We didn't take roll call until the people who were severely hurt were taken care of, so that's why we only found out that they were missing now. It's my fault," Thom told them.

"It's no ones fault. I'm sure that, if your theory is correct Sir Thom, and I bet it is, they are together and fine for the moment. Knowing your ability to figure things out quickly, I'm sure you're right. Now, I think that we should all get to bed, so that first thing we can search for them. I would say that we should go now, but it is dark and cold and it would do them no good if it took us that much longer to find them because we're getting lost. At first light, we send out a search party. Does that sound agreeable to everyone?" Eliwood asked. They nodded exhaustedly. With a brief farewell, Eliwood swept out of the tent.

"He will be a just and admirable Lord one day," Thom murmured, as everyone else left as well.

0OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO0

"Thanks again, Florina," Hector groggily told the Pegasus Knight. He had recovered some of his sense that he had lost from losing all that blood, but now he was extremely tired.

He was lying on one side of the fire, with Florina laying on the other. He had been bandaged up by her rather quickly, and after a short meal of the few food items in Florina's saddle bags, they were now resting. He had made a few attempts at conversation, but now that she wasn't busy trying to save him she had regained most of her usual nervousness. Though, he had managed to get her talking once. He had asked her about what it took to become a Pegasus Knight, and he could tell that this was the right topic to choose. Immediately, her small face had shown with pride and her eyes had sparkled a bit.  
"W-well, a Pegasus Knight has to go through f-four years of training, and then they are sent out on their first assignment. You s-start training at age eleven, and at age fifteen you are able to be hired by someone who needs m-mercenaries." Florina had told him softly.

"And…" he paused, searching for something more to ask or say, "What makes a good Pegasus Knight?" He had not wanted to let go of the topic because she was finally really participating in a conversation with him, not counting the time he had insulted her beloved Pegasus.

"You have to be s-strong, and brave, and you must always do everything in your power to save those who need saving, no matter what job you were hired out to do. It doesn't m-matter who you're working for, as long as you don't go against contract to do it, a Pegasus Knight's duty is to protect. W-well, it used to be mainly that. These days, it's mostly about money. But before, it was to t-take care of the citizens of Ilia, and then also the people of other countries who needed help. It used to be like that, but now all we do is go out and kill for money, mostly." Florina had said, and she had sounded very sad at the end. Hector had been able to tell that she had respected the Knights of old, who were protectors, not the newer version that killed to make money. Though Hector could understand why they did; it was because Ilia was so cold and frozen, you couldn't do much to sustain your family besides fish and, if you were a woman, become a Pegasus Knight. He was sure Florina knew that too, but…he understood her dreams of a slightly more noble order.

But now, the conversation had come to an end. They were both tired from the battle, even more so than usual for Hector for being injured and for Florina for having to take care of him. The night air was cruelly and bitterly freezing, and he could see Florina shivering like a leaf in a windstorm. The fire didn't do much to create enough heat to warm them.

"Are you cold?" he asked sleepily. The injury had taken even more out of him than he had thought; he could barely keep his eyes open.

Florina opened her own eyes, "N-no, I'm f-fine," she chattered. It was worse than her usual stuttering. Hector raised his eyebrows at her, and she sighed. She knew she was a bad liar, especially when the fact that she was lying was so blatantly obvious.

"Y-yes," she told him after a moment.

"Would you like my cape?" he asked her. She blushed, but looked like she was actually considering it. She was losing feeling in her fingers and toes.

"Y-yes, p-please," she whispered. She sleepily shuffled over to his side of the fire and helped him sit up enough to pull of his cape. He handed it to her, and she blushed and thanked him.

She was about to head over to her side of the fire when he spoke, his voice rough.

"Listen, don't take this the really wrong way or anything, but you can stay over on this side of the fire. The wind blows more of the heat this way. I promise, I won't…bother you, or anything," he noticed her face reddening to an alarmingly dark shade of scarlet, and he quickly added, "Well, I do snore, so that might bother you, but other than that you'll be fine." She couldn't help but giggle a little at that, even though her stomach was full of butterflies. Be that close to him? All the instincts her past had created told her not to trust a man on his word… but it was far below freezing, and she was incredibly cold. Surely it wouldn't hurt to just lie a few feet away. He was right about the wind blowing the heat; it was a bit warmer over here….

She found herself nodding, and she sank exhaustedly to the ground and curled up in a ball with her back to him.

He was happy because she had just shown a huge amount of trust and bravery.

She was happy because she was warm, and she liked the way his cape smelled.

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_Author's Note: _Well, so, what did you think? The end might be a bit out of character for Florina, but it was below freezing. And the part about the Pegasus Knights might be OOC too, but I wanted them to actually talk for once, and she loves being a Pegasus Knight, and I figured she was probably pretty passionate about it. So, don't yell at me about whether or not she's in character. Characters change throughout a story, after all. So, tell me what you think, and I'll be forever grateful. I like this chapter, personally, but who knows, you might all hate it. Tell me if you like it, please. Yours truly, jina fate


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